Pacific Air Forces likely will continue rotating
Global Hawks to Japan after remotely piloted aircraft's initial deployment to Misawa Air Base wraps up,
said PACAF Commander Gen. Hawk Carlisle. “We are looking at the (deployment
data) and by all accounts we had a positive increase in sorties,” Carlisle told
reporters during an Oct. 9 teleconference. He said the weather at Misawa
allowed more frequent and longer duration sorties from the base than operations
at Andersen AB, Guam, the RPA's home base. “We are looking at doing it again, because it supports
the ability to fly more missions,” said Carlisle, adding that deployments would
likely coincide with seasonal weather patterns at Misawa to maximize sortie
generation. Asked if USAF was close to deciding on Yokota AB, Japan, as a
location to rotate Air Force Special Operations Command’s CV-22s, Carlisle said
the US and Japanese government are still debating the final location. However, he said the US does wants to get the Osprey deployed forward in the Pacific. There has been
local resistance to putting the Osprey at Kadena Air Base, on the island of
Okinawa, and the US has negotiated with the Japanese government for several
years on a final location. “It is a great and capable and safe platform,
and what we do and how we operate it brings a great capability,” he added.